A dress, nearly every day.

Month: June 2017

It’s been forever since I posted, I know—sheesh, 2017, amirite?—and I just moved house, which of course has everything topsy-turvy. (I have *almost* got my new sewing space sew-able, though.)

As part of moving I had to round up all the random plastic tubs of fabric and dresses I had cached all over the old house like some kind of textile squirrel, and all I can say is … whoa. It’s pretty easy to say “oh, I don’t have that much stuff” when you can only see one or two bins at a time, but when moving them takes double-digit trips (in a Honda Fit, but still), saying “I don’t have that much stuff” only provokes bitter, bitter laughter.

So: I’m purging! Very, very slowly, but still … and, as the zeitgeist would have it, I’m getting rid of the things that don’t “spark joy”. Some of what I’m letting go is fabric (mostly I’m giving to local swaps and Goodwill but I’ve put some up on Etsy, here), and some of what I’m letting go is vintage (still trying to figure out what to do with vintage when you’re way too busy/lazy to list it online the way it should be listed), but some of it is dresses I’ve sewn myself.

I’ve always had a hard time letting go of dresses I’ve sewn, for one reason or another. Part of it is that, well, I really LIKE them—I wouldn’t have made them, otherwise. Part of it is of course the ‘sunk cost fallacy’: “I spent X hours and Y dollars on this, I should keep it until I figure out what to do with it … “. And of course there are all the same reasons that anyone keeps clothes they no longer wear regularly: “I might fit into this again someday/I might need it/I might take it apart and make something else out of it/I have wonderful memories of wearing this” and so on.

And a large part of it is that I feel that handmade dresses should be worn by people who will appreciate them!

People have often asked me to sell (or make replicas) dresses I’ve made and featured here, but sewing isn’t my job, it’s my hobby. So I don’t do custom work and I don’t have a dress or alterations shop. I usually point people towards the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals and go on my merry way.

All this is, of course, a long lead-up to me saying, “Hey! There are bunch of dresses I’ve made that I no longer have physical or psychological space for—would you by chance want one?”

I’ve put them all in a Google Spreadsheet here. Most of them are linked to blog posts where they were featured; a few I’m still trying to track down. (You could treat those as grab-bag or lucky-dip dresses if you want!)

I’m not trying to make a bazillion dollars here, so every dress is $20, plus USPS Priority Mail flat-rate shipping. I will ship internationally (with the warning that it will be expensive, and you’ll be on the hook for any customs duties).

If you see a dress you like, fill out THIS FORM with the dress you want and your email and mailing address, and I will send you a Paypal invoice for the $20 plus whatever shipping costs to wherever you live. Then you have a week to pay the invoice (or the dress becomes available to someone else).

I’ll strikethrough dresses on the spreadsheet as they are claimed and remove them when they are purchased.

Here are some questions I thought you might have:

Q. Do these dresses have pockets?

A. ALL OF THESE DRESSES HAVE POCKETS.

Q. There’s a dress of yours I want that isn’t on the list! Will you be selling it?

A. Uh, maybe? You can email me and ask. (I won’t be selling any Liberty-print dresses, any Tetris dresses, or the Star Wars dress, though.)

Q. There are no prices on the spreadsheet, how much are the dresses?

A. Every dress is US$20.

Q. What are you going to use the money for?

A. I’m going to give half of it to charity (likely Planned Parenthood or Chicago Books to Women in Prison), and I’m going to use half of it to buy more fabric. (Yes I know this negates the whole concept of “getting rid of stuff” … but, FABRIC!)

Q. What if I don’t support the missions of either of those organizations?

A. Easy! Don’t buy a dress!

Q. I want to buy a dress but I would like you to ship it (some way other than Priority Mail Flat Rate). Can you do that?

A. Sorry, flat rate only, as I need to minimize the time I spend in line at the Post Office for my own sanity and the sanity of those around me.

Q. Will you make (my requested alterations) to the dress before you send it to me?

A. No, I’m afraid not … your local dry cleaner/alterations shop can help you out.

Q. Are these dresses new?

A. All of these dresses have been worn. Some have been worn more than others. (Any notable flaws are listed in the spreadsheet.)

Q. Are the measurements body measurements or garment measurements?

A. They’re garment measurements, measured flat across the front and doubled. Make sure to leave wearing ease for yourself!

Q. Why don’t you just give them all to Goodwill and be done with it?

A. I’m worried that they will be treated as rags because they don’t have labels. 😦 I want them to go to good homes!

Q. Speaking of labels, will you put a label in the dress to show it was made by you?

A. I won’t sew one in for you, but if you add $2, I will throw one of these in (until they’re all gone). That $2 will go directly to charity.

Q. I would like to pay some other way (not Paypal).

A. I’m sorry, I can only take Paypal.

Q. Will you be purging any of your sewing patterns?

A. Maybe? (Oh god I haven’t even thought about culling the patterns yet … ) If I do I will put them up on Etsy.

Q. When will this purge end?

A. At dawn. When they’re all gone. However, I have to get these OUT OF MY HOUSE so anything that’s not gone in a month or so (end of July) will probably go to Goodwill after all.

Q. I have a question that you were unable to anticipate! How can I ask it?

A. Leave your question as a comment on this post and I will answer it as soon as possible.

Here are some of the dresses, patiently waiting in their bins for new owners: